Emefiele: Documents used to pay election observers $6.2m forged — Forensic Analyst

The trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, continued on Thursday before Justice Hamza Muazu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja as a forensic analyst confirmed that the documents used to request the payment of $6.2million for foreign election observers were forged.

The witness, Bamaiyi Meriga, called by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the court that following forensic analysis of the disputed documents, he discovered that there was clear evidence of forgery of signature, and the seal of execution were different from the original.

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He also confirmed that the signature were not those of former President Muhammad Buhari and ex-Secretary General of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.

The two documents, presidential directive on foreign observer election and presidential directive on foreign observer election tendered in evidence was admitted in evidence by the trial judge, justice Muazu.

Under cross-examination by counsel for Emefiele, the witness said he was not a staff of the EFCC, and was not being paid by the anti-graft agency but his salary was domiciled with the Nigeria Immigration Service.

Counsel for Emefiele, Matthew Burkaa, expressed displeasure over the conduct of the witness, saying that the witness misled the court by evading questions.

However, the Prosecution Counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, was not not happy with the defence counsel.

The trial has been adjourned till March 11 for continuation.